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Tommy Cole
Tommy Cole debuted in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence pilot as the show's host. For The Muppet Show Club proper, Tommy had a less high profile assignment, acting the Muppeteers for the entire run of the series; this is due to the opinion that Tommy lacked charisma, and was "too wimpy" to be the host of the series. He also appeared onstage from time to time, such as in the Sax and Violence and Library sketches. He was seen rarely afterwards, only making a few appearances in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years and A Muppet Family Christmas. Tommy Cole returned for 2011's The Muppets, seen again in the act pit. Tommy has eyelids, which is unusual for a Muppeteer whose eyes are on the top of his head; a view from behind (as seen for instance in the Muppet Show Club end credits) reveals that they are perched on top of his eyes and are not connected to the rest of his body. In the pilot and in most of his Muppet Show Club appearances, Tommy Cole was played by himself, with Tommy performing the character a few times. After the first season, he was relegated to non-speaking roles. A prototype PVC of Nigel was made by Comics Spain. Tommy Cole (born December 20, 1941) is an American make-up artist, actor, and singer who was one of the Muppeteers from the Muppet Show Club. Early Life Although born in Burbank, California, Tommy Cole grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of La Cañada. He was self-motivated toward performing from an early age, despite the disapproval of some of his more strict Lutheran relatives. His father was an editor of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner; his mother later worked part-time at movie studios as a welfare guardian for minor children. He has one older brother, John Cole. Career Performer Tommy Cole started as a musician, playing the accordion as a young teenager with three other kids in a western swing band. The band played in amateur contests and small clubs, and even managed to get a one-time gig on Ray Bolger's mid-1950s television show Where's Raymond? Besides playing the accordion, he was also the band's singer. When the ensemble auditioned together at the Disney Studio for The Muppet Show Club in spring 1955, he was the only one selected to join the cast of Muppeteers Though he started on the second-string Blue Team, Tommy Cole's singing ability earned him a transfer to The Muppet Show Club's first-string Red Team midway through the 1955–56 season. He remained with the show for its final two seasons (1956–1958) of original programming and, after filming stopped, attended Hollywood Professional School and went on live-performance tours with other Muppeteers to Australia in 1959 and 1960. For the next several years Tommy Cole's career was based on live-singing at teenage clubs, public events, and as an opening act for other performers. He attended Pasadena City College, did a hitch in the Air Force, and had guest star parts on a few television shows. By 1964, he had realized that his days as a performer were ending, and so looked around for some other way to stay in show business. Make-up Artist While acting in an episode of My Three Sons in 1963, Tommy Cole had started learning make-up technique from one of the show's regular artists. He soon joined the craft as an apprentice, working first for ABC, then later in the sixties for NBC. He began freelancing as a make-up artist in the early seventies, gathering Emmy nominations in 1975 for Masquerade Party and 1978 for Once Upon a Brothers Grimm, before winning, along with Mark Bussan and Ron Walters, in 1979 for Backstairs at the White House. Tommy has since been nominated for Emmy awards for the miniseries Right to Die (1988), the television series Wings (1996), and most recently for the TV special Gepetto (2000), for which he shared in winning the Hollywood Makeup Artists and Hairstylist Guild Award. He has long been active in his craft's union, serving in 2003 as business representative for Local 706 of the Makeup Artists and Hairstylist Guild. He currently represents his guild on the Governor's Board of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Personal Life Tommy's wife Aileen is a former dancer. They met in Korea, on a USO tour in the mid-sixties, and were married when they had both returned stateside. They have two children, now adults. Filmography * The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence * The Muppet Show Club ** Theme Song (Seasons 1 - 5) ** Episode 102: Connie Stevens ("Sax and Violence") ** Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Razzle Dazzle ") ** Episode 108: Paul Williams ("At the Dance") ** Episode 114: Sandy Duncan ("Try to Remember") ** Episode 118: Phyllis Diller ("The Entertainer") ** Episode 121: Twiggy ("In My Life") ** Episode 123: Kaye Ballard (Backstage, "One Note Samba") ** Episode 124: Mummenschanz ("The Blue Danube") ** Episode 208: Steve Martin ** Episode 210: George Burns ("It All Depends on You" / "You Made Me Love You" Medley) ** Episode 213: Rudolf Nureyev ("Top Hat, White Tie and Tails") ** Episode 218: Jaye P. Morgan ("Big Noise from Winnetka") ** Episode 220: Petula Clark ("Tomorrow") ** Episode 303: Roy Clark ("Yesterday When I Was Young ") ** Episode 304: Gilda Radner ("Tap Your Troubles Away") ** Episode 305: Pearl Bailey ("My Soul Is a Witness") ** Episode 312: James Coco ("Short People") ** Episode 316: Danny Kaye (Backstage) ** Episode 317: Spike Milligan ("Dog Walk") ** Episode 403: Shields & Yarnell ("It's Lonely at the Top") ** Episode 411: Lola Falana ("United We Stand") ** Episode 415: Anne Murray ("Everything Old Is New Again") ** Episode 417: Star Wars ("Six String Orchestra") ** Episode 418: Christopher Reeve ("Sam's Song") ** Episode 424: Diana Ross ("Reach Out and Touch") ** Episode 504: Shirley Bassey ("After You've Gone") ** Episode 514: Mac Davis ("I Believe in Music") ** Episode 524: Roger Moore ("How High the Moon ") * American Express commercial * The Muppet Movie * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years * A Muppet Family Christmas * The Jim Henson Hour ** Episode 112: Food * "The Muppet Show Theme Music Video" * The Muppets * Muppets Most Wanted * Warburtons commercial * The Muppets Take the Bowl Book Appearances * Fozzie's Big Book of Sidesplitting Jokes * The Muppet Show Comic Book issue #1 - "Kermit's Story" * Muppet Robin Hood issue #2 * The Muppet Show Comic Book: Family Reunion issue #4 * Muppet Sherlock Holmes * Green and Bear It * The Muppets Character Encyclopedia Category:1950s Characters Category:Muppeteers Category:Characters